/*
 * Copyright 2008 Max Kugland
 *
 * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
 * You may obtain a copy of the License at
 *
 *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 *
 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 * limitations under the License.
 */
package org.splink.library.logging.logoutput {
	import org.splink.library.logging.LogEvent;				

	/**
	 * The interface for all <code>IOutputFormatter</code> implementations. Every 
	 * <code>ILoggerFactory</code> can have its own <code>IOutputFormatter</code> and every 
	 * <code>ILogger</code> created by the factory will configure its <code>ILogOutput</code>
	 * instances with the <code>IOutputFormatter</code>. So every <code>ILogger</code> created
	 * by a specific <code>ILoggerFactory</code> therefore will output logs equally formatted via
	 * the <code>ILogOutput</code> instances it is configured to use.
	 * 
	 * @author Max Kugland
	 */
	public interface IOutputFormatter {
		/**
		 * Returns the name of the application to which the logger is applied
		 * 
		 * @return the name of the application 
		 */
		function getAppName() : String;

		/**
		 * Gets a <code>LogEvent</code> object, formats the information contained and returns the
		 * result as a String
		 * 
		 * @return formated message ready to be sent to its final destination
		 */
		function format(event : LogEvent) : String;
	}
}
